'COX-2 Inhibitors Give Endocannabinoids a Lift'

Remy

Administrator
This isn't a new article but I think it's relevant considering the recent popularity of CBD supplements and Pridgen's studies using an antiviral and NSAID combination.

Researchers have discovered a class of drugs that have the potential to boost levels of endocannabinoids, the body’s own pain-relieving compounds, specifically at sites of inflammation.

The lead compounds are surprisingly familiar: ibuprofen and related non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). A group led by Lawrence Marnett at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, reports that the NSAIDs ibuprofen, naproxen, and flurbiprofen (all members of the profen family) potently inhibit COX-2–mediated oxygenation and inactivation of endocannabinoids. The findings suggest that targeting COX-2 could be a new strategy for propping up endocannabinoid levels to treat pain. The paper was published September 25 in Nature Chemical Biology.

Profens are thought to carry out their anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving activities largely by preventing COX-2 from converting arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. However, inside every ibuprofen pill lies not one but two types of ibuprofen molecules—mirror-image (S) and (R) enantiomers. Only one, (S)-ibuprofen, inhibits arachidonic acid oxygenation. The (R) enantiomer has been seen as an inactive bystander.

Even so, there have been hints that (R)-profens might be pain relievers in their own right.

Full text here.
 

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